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[ ] I spent my whole life overthinking and that led to indecision and that led to inaction. In that order.
[ ] You cannot be indecisive with the absence of thought - This is the main lesson I’ve learned from waking up at 5am: If you do not think, you cannot be indecisive and CAN take action.
[ ] OVERTHINKING CYCLE: start thinking - many good ideas - the world says to focus on one thing, so you try -but you’re stuck in the Paradox of Choice - then you get stuck Overthinking (Paralysis by Analysis) - Inaction - Procrastinate, Unproductive, Lost, Confused - mad at yourself (feel lazy, wasted potential) because your happiness is directly tied to you productivity - take a step back to get clarity - cycle begins again.
[ ] Solutions = Choose to be happy with little bits of productivity and progress. DON’T THINK.
[ ] OVERTHINKING-IDENTITY CYCLE: Big Ideas and try to pick just one (CUE: the new thing to learn and think about) - Enter the “Honeymoon” Phase (CRAVING: to learn more or figure out a new skill) - we invest our IDENTITY - get excited and tell people and that releases dopamine - slowly we get bored or have learned enough (RESPONSE: we learn but usually only until satisfied) - feel guilty it’s not our “calling”, lost - next time you avoid going “all-in” to avoid failure (ANTI-REWARD: avoidance keeps us safe from failure) - not going “all-in” become a self-fulfilling prophecy - shame - lose confidence - think our way out - try to find our “calling.
[ ] Solutions: Stop looking for ONE single calling. Do a whole bunch of things and combine them. Upgrade your skills. Or conformity also works and you can keep searching for that one thing.
[ ] ADDICTED TO OVERTHINKING CYCLE: think of ideas and imagine how it would be when completed (The BIG Ideas) - this manipulates dopamine even though our brains knows the difference between thinking and action, there is still an effect (and also creates THE ACTION GAP) - we like dopamine - “feels like” we are crushing life and have it all figured out (but only in our heads) - we tell people about our big plans - get more dopamine - “feels like” more progress - we continue to IMAGINE even more = THE ACTION GAP (here we land back in the OVERTHINKING CYCLE)
[ ] Solutions: Awareness, Do Something, Short 30-day trials, Do it for fun. WOOP Method. VULNERABILITY CYCLE Vulnerability - Share - Help Others - Receive Validation - Feel Good Enough - Repeat
[ ] THE SHAME CYCLE: Feel not good enough - strive for perfection - hit limiting beliefs - fears around being vulnerable and sharing - feel shame - repeat
